Steins:Gate Future
by MyEpic
Summary: So, Maxine now leads a normal life on the new Steins Gate world line, or at least, as normal as it gets with Kyouma around. But a familiar-feeling superpower reawakens within her and begins wreaking havoc. Will she ever be able to live in peace? Sequel story to Accidental Hack Into The Gate
1. Chapter 1: Cosplay Malfunction

**Hey, I'm back again! **

**This is the sequel story to my previous story, _Accidental Hack Into The Gate_. If you want to know how Maxine weaved her way into the Steins Gate world lines or what their motivation is for Operation Signy, you should read that first.**

**_Chaos;Head_ is a game that takes place in the same universe as _Steins;Gate_ in 2009. It uses fundamentally different but compatible mechanics in its story. You don't have to read _Chaos;Head_ to be able to understand the plot of this story, but if you were planning to: here's your spoiler warning.**

**TLDR: spoilers for _Chaos;Head_, _Steins;Gate_, and _Steins;Gate 0_.**

* * *

**AD 2012.06.24 18:35:26:34**

**%3****.535470**

"Now, let us begin Operation Signy!" I proclaim.

"Operation Sydney…?" Mayuri asks.

"To rebuild the time machine that just left us," I clarify confidently.

Unfortunately, this cool moment doesn't last. I am immediately struck with an overwhelming sense of nausea. Trying hard to maintain my cool stance I try to rationalize this feeling. _Reading Steiner?_ No… it hasn't ever gotten this bad before. My vision seems to be fading…

Kurisu is the first to pick up on my crumbling façade. "Maxine… are you-"

Blackness… Awake, out of breath, breathing…

"Hah, hah, hah, hah… hah… hah… hah…" W-What just happened to me? Did I…?

"Maxine! Are you okay? Y-You…" Kurisu asks in a panicked tone.

"I… No… what happened to me?"

"You just fainted. When I got to you, you weren't breathing; I couldn't feel your heartbeat at all!" Kurisu quickly rambles.

"It looked like you were fine a little bit ago too," Mayuri adds.

"I didn't feel sick…" I'm almost afraid to ask, "…What was the divergence of this world line?"

"Don't worry, the world line didn't change," Okabe reassures me.

Now that the air has returned to my lungs, I take a look at my surroundings. I'm in the same place as before, except everyone's worried faces are surrounding me. Kurisu had even propped my head up on her kneeling legs in her attempts to get me to breathe again.

"…What happened to me?"

* * *

**AD 2012.08.14 15:24:56:23**

From that day onward I carry with me a copy of the copy of the last number on the divergence meter everywhere I go. It probably doesn't prove anything, but looking at it sure is reassuring. The nausea happens every now and again, but it seems like it's usually only when I'm around the labmems. After about a week I became able to retain consciousness through the crippling nausea, and as my body became more and more acclimated to it, it's been reduced to more or less me just losing the ability to stand for a second and a light headache.

Nobody can explain it though. I've seen the doctor a couple of times already, but nothing is out of the ordinary and it doesn't happen while I'm there. I am in good health, _apparently_. Reading Steiner was ruled out early, too, since it never happens to Okabe and since the world line never changes.

Despite my questionable state, Operation Signy continued on. Although we haven't actually been making much progress. The technology in 2012 doesn't seem to be good enough to physically transport a person physically though time yet.

"It's done!" Mayuri announces proudly.

"Really?" I ask eagerly.

"Yeah!"

"I can't wait to see it." Everything Mayuri has made so far has been of some of the highest quality I've seen, even though I don't really recognize a lot of the characters.

"You don't have to~" Mayuri points out.

"What?"

"This one is for _you_, silly."

"F-For me?" I ask. I had forgotten Mayuri was working on something for me in the other world lines. Also, the first day of Comima is actually tomorrow from what I've heard. Does this mean she's indirectly asking me to cosplay?

"Try it on!"

"Right now?" I ask shyly.

"Yeah!"

I nervously take the outfit and head into the washroom, silently reassuring myself that if it's made by Mayuri it's gonna be good. The outfit also looks familiar to me somehow, so I start putting it on.

I end up wearing a white V-neck with a foreign aesthetic, a puffy white miniskirt with seemingly impossible design put into the way it puffs, black leggings, and some stylized shoes. Oh, and also there's a sword to go with it.

"Oh, it's Kumiko," I say to myself, "_from_…" Where have I seen her before…?

"Oh, you've got it on!" Mayuri exclaims happily.

"W-Wait, how long have you been-"

"Now I just have to do your hair…"

I decide to just accept Mayuri's innocent seeming but strange actions having gotten used to them over the year. I'm not quite used to having all her attention on me yet, though.

"…So, who is this one based on, Mayuri?"

"Huh? I thought you recognized who it was…" Mayuri responds in confusion.

"I was right?" I ask a little surprised. "It does look like Kumiko, but… I couldn't remember what series she's from…"

"Ooh, she's from _Run Home!_. It's an obscure isekai web novel from a kind of unknown writer. I'm kinda surprised you heard of it."

"Me too," I respond. It turned out to be a series I've never heard of before. Maybe I saw her in a magazine or on a bill board somewhere? Although it doesn't seem all that likely since she's from some obscure web novel. Ah, Daru probably showed her off to me at some point as one of his _wives_. That's probably it.

We continue light-heartedly chatting with each other until, before I know it, my hair is styled. Looking in the mirror I'm once again stunned. It's near perfect copy of the character I don't know; Kumiko.

"Uwoaaaagh! Kumiko-tan please be my wife foreveeer!" Daru loudly proclaims as soon as I walk out.

"No."

"Haaaugh! To be rejected by Kumiko-tan is an honor that will never be surpassed!"

With all Daru's yelling grabbing everyone's attention, they follow his gaze to me. "M-Maxine?" Kurisu asks surprised. She must have just gotten here.

"It's me," Kyouma whips out his phone, "The organization seems to have sent a Kumiko imposter to the lab… Yeah… Yeah, I know. This must be the choice of Steins Gate. El, Psy, Kongaroo~"

"Another masterpiece. As expected from Mayuri," Kyouma says, quickly pocketing his phone. Mayuri beams happily in response to this praise.

"What do you think, Kurisu?" I ask. She was the only one who hadn't yet given a response.

"I-Isn't that a little revealing?" she asks.

I look over myself for a second, before shrugging and returning my eyes to her. "Maybe, but it feels nice. You should try it with me," I suggest.

"Oh, well… maybe if we're both doing it together," Kurisu says shyly.

"Oooh, Assis-tat-tat-tah!" Sensing that Okabe would ruin the moment along with the chances of her doing this with me I had positioned my hand so that I could pinch him when the time comes without anyone noticing.

"Wheeeeh? Kuris-chan wants to cosplay too?" Mayuri's eyes light up with pure joy at what Kurisu just said.

Luckily Mayuri has everyone distracted, including herself, or they would have seen me stumble and bump into Okabe. There it was again; the phantom nausea. So that's your revenge for me pinching you, huh? At least I didn't fall over this time. Checking the number to be sure… yep, didn't change.

"Ah, w-well… only if Maxine is doing it too…" It seems like Kurisu can't handle Mayuri's full attention either.

"Mayushii's so happy! I can't believe it! Oh, but what will Kuris-chan wear?" Mayuri thinks out loud.

"Oh… sorry. I guess I didn't give you any time to prepare," Kurisu says with a slightly relieved look.

Mayuri looks like she's deep in thought for a few more moments before she springs back to life. "Ah, I think I have just the thing!"

"You do…?" Kurisu asks with her hopes of being given an out shattered.

"Yeah. Mayushii's gonna go home for today and look through the spare outfits she made," Mayuri announces before dashing out the door.

"Bring back something good!" I yell after her.

* * *

**AD 2012.08.15 08:37:36:42**

"How did I end up with the most revealing cosplay!?" Kurisu yells, hiding her face in embarrassment.

"But it looks great on you, Kurisu!" Yuki reassures her.

"I think so too," I say unable to hold back a slight smirk at her situation.

Mayuri actually showed up a few minutes after Comima started, so Kurisu thought she would just come with me in her normal clothes. The whole reason Mayuri was late though was because she was finishing the adjustments on Kurisu's cosplay so it would fit her better. The _spare_ that she brought just so happened to be one she had originally made for Rukako two years earlier. The thing is: it was originally designed to be worn by a guy. _Soo…_

With my comment, Kurisu turns to look up at me with unsure eyes.

"You'll be fine," I reassure her, "It's not like you're the only one here showing off a little skin."

"Th-That's not-" Kurisu tries to refute.

"Aahhhh! Mayushii's gonna miss the limited edition Upa!" Mayuri blurts out while checking her pocket watch. She then starts to sprint in a random direction.

"Mayuri? Wait up," Yuki says starting the chase after her.

"Mayuri! The Upa is this way!" I yell after her while pointing in nearly the opposite direction.

"Ah! Thanks, Maxe-chan!"

They run past us again, and I see them off with a smile forming on my— Intense dizziness. My now jelly legs give way, causing me to stumble into Kurisu.

"M-Maxine?" Kurisu yelps.

"S-Sorry… I-"

"Woooah! Yuri role play!" A bystander yells.

With this, many of the Otaku passing by turn our direction to see what's up. Then there's an audible snap, followed by many more; every snap adding to the nausea, causing my body to become even more limp as I hold on to her shoulders. Pictures, it's the pictures…?

Meanwhile Kurisu is in shock, unable to handle all of the attention being thrown her way. She has frozen still with her face is as red as a tomato.

"I'm really sorry, Kurisu," I whisper to her. "Be strong for me, okay? We're both going down if your legs give out, and then they'll _never_ stop."

She looks down at me in confusion as I look back with a calm expression. Then everything clicks together in her head and a look of understanding washes over her face. She looks back and forth between me and the crowd of people for a moment before deciding how to handle this. Kurisu sweeps me off my feet and begins the mad dash in the general direction Mayuri left in while trying to lose our _fans_ in the crowds.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Kurisu asks.

"Yeah," I confirm. "Sorry…"

"N-No, don't apologize; you didn't do it on purpose. Although you should have gotten off me _eventually_."

"I... couldn't. I think the pictures were making my head get worse and worse back there," I admit.

"The pictures…?" Kurisu repeats. This apparently is enough of a distraction to her that she runs into someone, causing both of them to fall over.

"Noooo! The limited-edition exclusive Rai-Net manga got folded!" He screams. "Kumiko-tan, why do you hate me so!"

"Daru?" Kurisu asks.

"Makise-shi?" Daru asks in response.

"I thought you would be at the vendors right now…" Kurisu says pushing me off of her.

"I was actually looking for you guys," Daru admits. "Where's Yuki? Wasn't she with you?"

"She went with Mayuri to where they were selling the limited-edition Upas," I explain.

"Okey-dokie. Let's head over there," Daru suggests.

He then waits for me to get up myself, but I'm still not strong enough to stand on my own so it gets awkward fast. Kurisu sighs a little and helps me up.

* * *

"Mayuri!" I call out through the crowds once I spot her.

"Maxe-chan?" she recognizes. "And Daru-kun too!"

"Did you find that Upa?" I ask.

"Yeah, it was the last one they had! Mayushii would have missed it if you didn't tell me where to go…"

"Ah, well-" That can't be right. I didn't even know there _was_ a limited edition Upa before she told me. How did I know where it was? I must have been so distracted earlier I didn't even notice anything was wrong. I don't think she mentioned it to me before…

"It's a good thing you got there in time," I say while trying to ignore these discrepancies.

"Yeah."

"Mayushii, have you seen Yuki?" Daru asks after taking a quick look at who's with us now.

"Oh, Yuki-chan went…"

While those two are chatting, I give in to my worries and reach for a certain folded index card. As always, the world line changed… Wait, it _changed_!?

**「****Future Divergence **– **%3.535468****」**

But I didn't even do anything! No time leap, no D-Mail, but a changed world line. Kurisu, noticing the look of shock on my face, moves to look over my shoulder to see what's so surprising.

"What's wrong?" She asks. "It's the same as always, isn't it?"

"No… it changed."

Kurisu's eyes widen at this revelation. "But that's impossible, right? You said that _you_ have to be the one to make the change for your Reading Steiner to activate…"

"Yeah, but this divergence definitely ended in a zero before."

Kurisu takes a little while to respond to this. She's probably playing through a lot of scenarios in her head. "…Maybe you're just imagining it. You did get hit pretty bad this time," Kurisu suggests.

"…I guess we'll find out eventually," I say hoping she's right. If anyone would back me up on a change of world line, it would be Okabe.


	2. Chapter 2: Reactive Proactivity

**AD 2012.08.15 11:52:21:59**

After a while Kurisu gets tired of all the action and I can't really hold back my nervousness so we decide to head back to the lab together. As I open the door to the lab, I see a nervously pacing Okabe in the main room. He is quick to hide that nervousness as soon as he sees us though.

"Ah, your back Assistant, Maxe-ina," Kyouma greets.

"Who is _Assistant_?" Kurisu fires back.

"Yeah, it was fun," I respond.

"You two were pretty popular there… 2chan was blowing up with pictures. Although, I didn't know your relationship with Maxine was _like that, Kurisu-tina…_" he teases.

"It's not like that!" She quickly refutes.

"Oooh, so what I'm hearing is that she rejected your feelings, _eh Maxe-ina?_"

"Yeah. I was pretty sad, but I think she was just being tsundere about it," I say confidently.

"Yeah, and-" Kurisu stops once she realizes that I actually did the opposite of backing her up. She turns to me with a look of betrayal. Meanwhile, Okabe is in a mix of shock and worry at what I just revealed. The way these two try to hide their feelings for each other while being so obvious is too hilarious for me to hold back, so I burst out laughing.

"Did you really believe that?" I ask between giggles.

"N-No… that would be ridiculous," Okabe says bashfully.

As the conversation continues on, I can't help but notice Okabe sneaking glances at me. I don't really think he's being a perv… actually I think he's...

"Okabe… if you have something to say, just say it," I encourage.

"W-What? Well, I…" Okabe takes a second to prepare what he has been wanting to say. "Can I see the divergence number?" he says almost whispering.

"So you noticed it too?" I say pulling the index card from my back pocket. "I couldn't remember exactly, but I don't think it ended in 8 before."

He takes a look at the number on the card and sighs. "I can't figure it out. I was at the lab the whole time, so nobody used the Phone Wave (name subject to change)…"

"Well, if Maxine noticed it too, then that means _she_ had to be the direct cause," Kurisu reminds us.

"Then, you know what happened right?" he asks me hopefully.

"No… I only found out when I checked the index card. So it must have happened sometime between then and yesterday."

"There's no way you didn't feel it if I still felt it," Okabe points out.

"…So that only leaves one option: it must have been the phantom nausea," I reveal.

"Phantom nausea? Wait, _that's_ why you were clinging to Kurisu like that?"

"Right; It got a lot worse than the ones I've had lately," I say, sighing at my helplessness. "But how does that change the world line…?"

* * *

**AD 2012.08.15 18:42:35:13**

We never found the answer to that question. Me and Okabe searched all day, but everything seems to be the same as it was before. The only lead we have is that our number of _fans_ online kept growing throughout the day, to Kurisu's dismay.

"…So you didn't find anything," Kurisu asks.

"Yeah," Okabe clarifies.

"Hmm…"

Kurisu, on the other hand, has been thinking through how this could all be possible. Loads of theories cover the room's white board, but…

"I didn't have any luck either," Kurisu admits. "We still don't know what causes her phantom nausea, so…"

As we begin brainstorming again, the lab's door opens. "Tuturuu~! It's Mayushii!"

"We're back," Suzuha announces.

"Oh, hey Suzuha. What did you think of Comima?" I ask.

"It was a little less organized than the one I'm used to, but it was fun!" She responds.

Okabe looks back and forth between us with a look of absolute shock, causing a puzzled look to dawn my face. What's so surprising about this? Of course, Comima would be different now than it is in the future. I turn my attention back to Suzuha, ignoring Okabe's antics.

Then it hits me: Suzuha is _here_; Suzuha has _been here_. Didn't she return to her time? Why was I just chatting with her as if this was normal?

"Suzuha... why are you here?" Okabe manages to ask.

"What?"

"You went back to the future, right?" he clarifies.

"Oh, yeah. I tried to but the time machine broke, remember?"

"The time machine broke? How?" I ask for Okabe. He's a little too shocked to continue this conversation.

"An Upa got stuck inside the machine and fried one of the boards," she responds.

"An Upa?"

"Yeah! It was one Mayushii never saw before. It was so cute too! If only you didn't throw it off the building…" Mayuri adds.

"…What did it look like?"

"Oh, it looked like…" Mayuri pulls an Upa from her pocket to use as an example. She pauses for a moment after she sees it though. "It's this one; the 2012 Limited-Edition Upa!"

"So the Upa changed the world line…?" I say to myself. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I've never witnessed such a clear example of the butterfly effect firsthand before.

"You know what you have to do now, right?" Kurisu asks me after a while. She stands confidently next to the freshly erased whiteboard that now shows a single theory.

**「****%3.535470: ? - _Mayuri went the wrong way_ \- Mayuri didn't get to buy the Upa - …****」**

**「****%3.535468: ? - _Maxine showed the way to the Upa_ \- Mayuri bought the Upa - … - The Upa got sent back in time - The time machine got fried****」**

Obviously, the solution is that I have to make sure Mayuri doesn't get the Upa. "Yeah… It still doesn't explain why the world line changed though. If that all happened in the present then there should have been no change, right?"

"Right," Kurisu agrees, "I was thinking about that too…"

"So, if we change this we can fix the time machine?" Suzuha asks.

"Oh, yeah," Okabe responds.

"I guess we should do that now, just in case," I say.

"Right," Kurisu says, "I'll get the D-RINE machine ready."

While Kurisu gets it ready, I take out my phone and begin writing the message to my past self.

**「****%3.535468****」**

**「****Don't show Mayuri where to find the****」**

**「****Limited-Edition Upa at Comima!****」**

"It's ready!" Kurisu announces.

"…Are we really sure about this? We still don't really know the initial cause," Okabe reminds us.

"It's more dangerous to leave the time machine there, even if it's broken," Suzuha responds.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Since everyone agrees, I send the D-RINE.

* * *

Or… I would have, if the sparks ever started to fly. However, that never happens.

"_Ding!_" The microwave signals the end of the timer duration.

"It didn't work?" I ask.

"We turned the TV on, didn't we?" Kurisu asks.

"Yeah, we did," Okabe says.

"What happened?" Suzuha asks.

"It's more like what _didn't_ happen," I respond.

"Maybe we should we try it again?" Okabe asks.

"Yeah," I say, "that worked last time."

With this, Kurisu sets the timer a second time. The second time quickly becomes the third, then the fourth and fifth. All of our attempts always end in a- "_Ding!_" The microwave signals the failure of our sixth desperate attempt. For some reason the D-RINE machine just doesn't want to work, which means Time Leaping is also out of the question.

"Ugh, not again…" I say in disappointment.

"Why isn't it working?" Okabe asks.

"Well, it was just a fluke in the first place," Kurisu reminds us, "It's a miracle it worked to begin with."

"Yeah, but…" Not having that safety net around is really bad news. Especially if the cause of this shift was _me_.

"What's wrong, Maxe-chan?" Mayuri asks. I must have grown visibly nervous.

"Well… the thing is, did you tell me that that Upa was going to be at Comima?"

"Hmm? Uhhhmm, no I don't think so… Wait, did you want one too? I'm sorry, Maxe-chan," Mayuri answers earnestly. This was the answer I was afraid of though.

"Wait, if you didn't know it was gonna be at Comima then how did you know where it was? The floor plan is different every year isn't it?" Kurisu is quick to catch on.

"Yeah, that's why Mayushii almost got lost." Mayuri confirms.

"I don't know."

"You don't know…?" Okabe ponders. "It kind of reminds me of your future knowledge a couple months ago."

"My future knowledge, huh?" It does feel like that same sort of awkward situation that used to happen all the time where I know something I shouldn't. If those other times weren't just coincidences, they could be explained like this too, but-

"Isn't that impossible, though? The games she got the info from cover a few events in 2010 and 2011," Kurisu points out.

"Right, and the events don't match up at all with what's going on right now since we're not between the Alpha and Beta attractor fields." I add to calm myself down. I really don't want to go through all of that again.

"What about the last one you played? Steins;Gate Future?" Okabe asks.

"Steins;Gate Future…?" …Wait, why don't I remember what happened in that one? That's the game sent me here in the first place, isn't it? The game that I played last… Why don't I remember?

"Wait, we can't ask about that one, remember?" Suzuha reminds us, "It happens in the future."

"Crap, right. Never mind, don't tell me," Okabe quickly retracts his question.

"Well then I guess there's only one way we can find out for sure if it's future knowledge," Kurisu suggests.

* * *

**AD 2012.08.18 13:22:41:26**

So for the last few days Okabe, Kurisu, and Daru have been slipping simple yet memorable questions that I'd never be able to answer into normal conversation. We decided they would have to be simple so I don't know I'm being tested and so that the answer is easier to remember.

"Welcome myaster- Ah, Kyouma!" I hear Faris greet. Okabe is the last one to get here as usual, even though he's the one that told us to meet here. This is made worse because he has to get through Faris before he can actually sit down. Eventually, they make their way toward the table.

"Kyouuumaaa…!" Faris calls after him while making sad puppy eyes.

"What's wrong Faris-tan?" Daru asks.

"Kyouma doesn't want to join the Faris Cup-nya…"

"But isn't Okarin terrible at Rai-Net?" he responds with a deadpan expression.

"You're hosting the Faris Cup again, huh? Is that a yearly thing?" I ask.

"This is the second time we've done it-nya," Faris informs me.

"Feyris-chan wanted to host one every year but she wanted the customers to have enough time to get over the last one so she didn't do it last year," Mayuri adds. It's true, they got beat pretty badly last time.

"And we all get a second chance to taste Faris's home cooking! This time I will not lose!" Daru exclaims with stars in his eyes.

"Oi, Daru. We're not here to talk about your love for Feris," Okabe says.

"Then what _are_ we here to talk about?" Kurisu asks with an annoyed expression.

"The results," Okabe answers.

"Results for what?" Daru asks.

"The Operation," he clarifies vaguely.

"Didn't I tell you before? We can't do anything right now," Daru says.

"No, not that operation…" Okabe says.

"Cmon man, I can't read your mind."

"…The impossible questions," Okabe gives into clarifying clearly.

"Oooh, those. Well, Maxe-shi was able to answer around half of my questions easy." Daru's questions were mostly about his wives, games, and other media.

"She knew all of mine," Okabe adds. Okabe's, or rather, Kyouma's questions were almost all chuuni. Very quotable. I think I only got them right because I was making fun of him with the answers.

"She got most of my questions too," Kurisu says. Kurisu's questions produced the most interesting result, I think.

I answered naturally because I had thought they had said these things before, but I found out that these were the questions afterward because after a while I began to notice a pattern. "Did she cringe in pain after every time she answered for you guys too?" Okabe asks.

"Yeah," Daru confirms.

Kurisu, however, looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"Maxe-shi's brain hurt real bad whenever she answered one of our questions," Daru explains.

"Really? That didn't happen with most of mine…" she admits.

"What did you ask?" Daru asks.

"Mostly neuroscience questions; stuff she would never know unless she worked in the field."

"…Does that mean she actually knew the answers already? Were you so impressed by my assistant that you actually decided to study in her field?" Kyouma asks with a smirk.

"No… I can't remember doing anything like that…" I answer seriously.

"I think that's a safe assumption, though," Kurisu says, "The future knowledge is probably connected to her phantom nausea somehow."

"So Maxe-ina can still see into the future, but she is struck by the phantom nausea every time she does," Kyouma concludes, "I dub this power: Active Steiner."

"But I don't want to… it just happens," I complain.

"Isn't this really dangerous, though?" Kurisu asks, "This, _Active Steiner_, changed the world line on its own and we still don't know why."

"That's right. Despite us purposefully using Active Steiner, the world line hasn't changed at all since that day." Okabe confirms.

"Well, it's not like me knowing the names of Daru's wives changes much in the grand scheme of things," I say, "The real question is _how_ does this change the world line. Future memories never changed the world line before."

"Yeah, it looks like a less useful version of time leaping," Daru says.

"But you're not getting info about the present from the future, though. It's coming from the last Steins;Gate game you played, right?" Kurisu corrects him.

"Ah, well actually… I can't remember what happened in Steins;Gate Future anymore," I admit. I tried to remember these last few days, but I just couldn't do it. It's like the plot had been erased from my memory.

"You don't remember it at all?" Okabe asks.

"No."

"Hmm… could this be the universe correcting itself?" Okabe asks.

"There's got to be a more logical reason than that," Kurisu refutes, "There's still too many things we don't know. Why are her actions in the present changing the world line? Why does future knowledge sometimes cause phantom nausea when it didn't before? What's going on with her memories?"

At these questions we all collectively sigh. She's right, there's too many unanswered questions to be drawing conclusions like this. I guess we just need to play around with it a bit more until we figure it out, but what else can we do?

"Thanks for waiting, myasters~!" Feris returns with the food we ordered. "Are you sure you're not gonna join the cup-nya?" She says as a last-ditch attempt.

"I cannot! The Organization's gonna have their eyes all over that event. A man on the run such as myself could never make such a public appearance!" Kyouma responds.

Wait, that's it! I'll join the Feris Cup. Even if I can't beat Feris with it, we'll at least walk away knowing how reliable Active Steiner really is.

"Hey Faris, when is the Feris Cup going to happen?" I ask.

"You wannya join, Maxii-nya?" Feris' eyes light up as she says this.

"Have you even played Rai-Net Access Battlers before?" Daru asks suspiciously.

"Ahaha, well…"


	3. Chapter 3: The Curse of Active Steiner

**AD 2012.08.19 16:56:57:11**

No; the answer was no. So, I came here a few minutes early and started looking up the game's rules on my phone as soon as I sat down. If I'm remembering correctly, Rai-Net Access Battlers is a simplistic board game that can get super advanced if the players know what they're doing.

"Are you sure you're gonna do this?" Daru deadpans.

"Are _you_ sure you're gonna do this?" I throw his question back at him. He's only a casual after all. There's no way he's beating Feris either. She's even planning to battle everyone at the same time.

"Of course! I will be the one to taste Feris-tan's home cooking! You'll see!" Daru says excitedly as he rushes to claim his table. Looks like he ended up getting the last available first round seat.

A few more minutes pass and Feris starts to kick things off. Around half-way through her talking on stage Okabe and Kurisu show up and sit down with me as well.

"So, St-nya-rting from that table there," she says pointing to my table, "I'll go around and play everyone one turn at a time. Okay?"

"Yeah!" They all shout excitedly.

"Rai-Net… Dual Access!" she shouts dramatically.

With this, everyone begins to cloud around whatever table they bet will probably win. This gives Feris the chance to make her way my direction.

"Thanks for playing with me, Maxii-nya!" I can't tell whether she is actually thanking me or if she's being overly confident.

"Good luck Maxe-chan!" Mayuri says with a smile.

The game starts and nothing unusual happens for the first few turns, but then it begins. Now every other move I wince in pain, with the pain gradually growing worse and worse.

Around five minutes later and Feris's expression has grown more serious. She was going easy on me at first, but it seems she decided to start seeing me as a worthy competitor. People standing around that have already been defeated are starting to crowd around our table.

"So much for the Organization's spies," Daru says once he sees Okabe.

"Shaddup," Okabe responds.

"…Are you okay-nya?" Feris eventually asks. At this point I've given up on having good posture and I'm just leaning over the table holding my head. Almost every move at this point strikes me with some intense pain.

"No, yeah. I'm fine," I lie.

With this, five more minutes of play go by. Mayuri looks on with worried eyes, Kurisu and Okabe look on with interest, Feris has an intense expression, and the crowd surrounding us has gone from curious to seriously hyped since I'm physically struggling so much. It's a little strange, but perhaps to an outsider this is like some anime scene where I'm overcoming a strong curse to defeat the evil Feris who had defeated them.

But I've pushed myself too far. I've hit the point where my body loses all of its strength, so the upper half of my body falls flat on the table with a thud.

"Nya! Maxii-nya?" Feris calls out to me.

"Awww…" the crowd collectively says.

"…No, I can still fight," I say, "Kurisu, can you hold me up?"

"Huh!? But-"

"Please… I wanna see how far I can go," I say. This, of course, has a double meaning that only Kurisu and maybe Okabe would understand.

"But-"

"Pleeeeaase…" I say childishly.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase..." Most of the crowd echoes.

"…Ah, geez… Alright," she eventually agrees. She shuffles around a little bit, drags me onto her lap, and holds me up by the chest.

"Wait… is that…" "The Kumiko Couple came to May Queen + Nyan Nyan?" I hear the crowd say. It looks like we've been found out… wait, is that what they called us before? Kurisu starts blushing in embarrassment as she hears this. Just a little while longer, Kurisu!

And so, the last few minutes of the match go by, and the result is-

"NYAAANIIIIIIIIIIIII!?" Feris yells.

"WOOOAAAAAH!" Daru and the crowd go wild.

"You did it Maxe-chan!" Mayuri says excitedly.

"I can't believe you-nya~! You were this good the whole time?" Feris says.

"Haha... well…" I try to say.

"Looks like the great myaster Maxii-nya is the winner of Feris' home cooking!" Feris cuts me off.

"Ah… you don't really have to-"

"Nya-onsense, you beat me fair and square. What kind of maid would I be if I didn't honor my promises-nya~," Feris reasons.

"Yeah… right."

* * *

**AD 2012.08.19 17:37:24:40**

That was how I ended up at Feris' place. Kurisu is also here too since Feris kept insisting she come along with us, Daru got denied because he was an actual contestant, and I thought Okabe would want to come as well but I couldn't find him. Did he leave or something?

"You know, you didn't actually have to make us dinner," I remind her.

"It's _fine_-nya," Feris responds again, "I'm doing this because I want to."

Because she wants to? Why, though? What is she scheming?

"So… how did you defeat Feris?" she asks seriously.

Ah, that. Of course. Her pride when it comes to this game probably hates that a Rai-Net nobody such as myself defeated her; as it should. However-

"So, this was your plan, huh?" I say in a Kyouma like fashion.

Feris' true plan with this dinner must have been to use a special ability of her own on me: Cheshire Break; an ability that allows her to see with high accuracy whether or not someone is telling the truth. Even outside the game, she's using high level tactics against me!

"Well, I hadn't had a match that intense in years, so I was just wondering~" Feris says knowing the trap she's laid.

I look to Kurisu to see if she can come up with anything to counter this, but it's no good. In a situation like this if you want to keep your secrets the only logical thing to do would be to tell a half-truth. How could we possibly explain this one away, though? I have essentially no Rai-Net experience.

"Well… you see…" I begin slowly, "You know how you have Cheshire Break?"

"Nya?"

"Well, we think I have something like that too, it's called Active Steiner."

"Nyaaa? Maxii-nya has the power to beat anyone at Rai-Net!?" Feris overreacts.

"It's actually the power to see the future," Kurisu corrects her, "She can only do it subconsciously, and she gets a real bad headache whenever she uses it."

"The power to see the future?" Feris says while frowning introspectively. This was the only option: the truth. Clearly, she doesn't really believe what she's sensing though.

"You're not lying, but…" She says while coming to terms with it, "If could can see the future, you would know every move I was about to make and be able to counter, right?"

"Right." Kurisu confirms.

"Why did you have to use it on me-nya?" Feris says slumping back into her normal attitude.

"I wanted to know how effective it was," I answer simply.

"-And since she can only use it subconsciously, a strategy board game is a great fit," Kurisu adds.

"Nyyyaaa… It was a fun match though. Like I said-nya, matches that intense only come around once every few years. You should play me again sometime-nya."

* * *

**AD 2012.08.19 18:05:32:16**

We continued on discussing Active Steiner, the match, and Rai-Net in general for a while. The results are in, and Active Steiner was clearly reliable but my memory can only be so good. Essentially what it boils down to is this: almost every time I went with my gut reaction to what Feris was doing the game turned in my favor. However, when my instincts were wrong it set me back quite a bit. That's why the game took so long.

Now Me and Kurisu are on our way back to the lab because we left our stuff there. We honestly weren't expecting me to be able to beat Feris at all. I walk up the familiar stairs and open the door to the lab. The sight that greets me is-

Blood, and Mayuri.

We both immediately rush over to Mayuri's side. Kurisu begins checking her to make sure she's okay, but she's clearly not. While she does that, I immediately pull the card from my pocket.

**「****Future Divergence **– **%0.757824****」**

"S-she's dead…" Kurisu says with a horrified expression.

"Kurisu…? how long have we been in an alpha world line…?" I ask despite knowing there's no way for her to answer. I take careful note of everything in the room. Smashed CRT, check; Dead Mayuri; check, Rounders, …where are the Rounders? Did they already leave? Wait… Never mind that, we have to get out of here!

I shake Kurisu to her senses. "Kurisu, we need to use the Time Leap machine! Like, right now."

"…Ah, right," she says, determination returning to her stance. "But, isn't it broken?"

"We have no choice! Fire it up for, I don't know, 20 seconds. Since I can see the future, I'll be the lookout, you go to the past."

"M-Me?"

"We have to save Mayuri."

"Right. Okay," She says as she begins readying the Phone Wave (name subject to change).

With that, I walk out of the development room just in time to see the Rounders that were sorely missing before bust into the room.

"Freeze, hands up." Oh? Looks like they're being reasonable now. I play along and put my hands where they want them.

That is, until they hear the microwave starting. One of them tries to pass me to see what's going on behind the curtain, but I strike him down with a kick. This causes the other one to try and fire at me.

I might be fit, but I'm no Suzuha when it comes to these kinds of things. However, I'm able to dodge easier than I feel like I should be, even with my Active Steiner advantage. That last shot felt like he was aiming for my left arm, so I just jumped to the right. If he had aimed for my center there's no way he could miss at this close range. This tells me one very important thing: they're here for me; they've been instructed to keep me alive.

So, I use this to my advantage for a while. I have them strung around my finger, but the pain is getting to be too much. Every dodge I make gives me intense pain, so It's only natural I could only do it for so long. Damn phantom nausea. I can't defend myself if I'm barely able to stand and have to be holding my head! Meanwhile the Phone Wave is still being useless since the sparks seem to be refusing to fly again.

Feeling the frustration rising within me I use it as my strength for one final action. I stumble into the development room and kick the desk with everything I've got. "Damn it all!" I yell while doing it. This can't be the end!

In that moment my kick sends the microwave flying. It doesn't go too high, but it's enough for it to at least end up having fallen off the table.

But that never happens.

Instead, the microwave starts floating.

Then, the microwave erupts with sparks like a volcano, or even a laser beam. But after a second all the sparks return to inside the microwave, revealing that they had been sucked up by a black hole roughly the size of the inside of the microwave.

Having eaten all the sparks, it begins taking various things in the development room, even drawing me closer. I try to run but I can't get away. I am lifted off the ground and shoved through the microwave.

The black hole continues its rampage on the lab until the microwave's metal itself gives way and turns the entire thing inside out so that it may be eaten as well, and with that it was like nothing ever happened.


	4. Chapter 4: Impulsive Return

It was just me and Daru in the lab today. I was channel surfing the TV for something interesting and Daru was on 2channel.

"Was there ever anything good on at this hour?" I ask.

"I don't really remember you ever sitting down to watch something on that TV before, Okarin," Daru answers.

With that answer I took out my phone to browse 2channel as well, but my phone has no service. "Hey Daru, does your phone have service?"

"No. It's all over 2channel right now; nobody has service in or around Akiha."

"A regional outage? Is this some kind of DOS attack?"

"The providers are saying it isn't, but they won't tell us what exactly it _is_."

"Cmon, is the world's cell infrastructure really that-" I start to say but get cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. "Oh, I guess it's back up," I say while answering the call.

"Weird, I still don't have any service at all," Daru responds in a mumble.

"Hello?" I say.

I'm immediately hit with loud pitched static. 'Huh, must be a prank call.' With this, I push the end call button.

But the call doesn't end.

Instead, my smartphone starts going crazy.

"Daru, have you ever seen this glitch before?" I ask while showing him the phone. While I'm showing the phone to Daru I also notice that the TV has gone to static as well.

"…No. Wait, Okabe!" Daru springs up from his seat, takes my phone, and throws it across the room. I shoot him a look of betrayal, but then I realize that my phone had actually started smoking while I was showing it to him.

Then a black hole opens above it, or maybe it would be more accurate to call it a wormhole? Out comes a metal box that distorts around the black hole until it can be seen that it is a microwave.

"Is that-" Daru attempts to ask.

"The Phone Wave..." I cut him off with the answer as I look on in horror.

Then the black hole spits out a bunch of random objects, followed by a girl I've never seen before, a girl I know all too well, and then some more random objects. With this, the black hole collapses on itself and the microwave falls to the ground, crushing my phone in the process.

It takes me a second to process what I am seeing, but when I do-

"KURISU!" I call out running over to her.

"Wait, that's Kurisu? You mean, _The Kurisu_?" Daru asks.

"Yes! Yes! This is her!"

* * *

"Owwwww… that suuuucked," I say to myself in a dazed state.

"Ooh, she's awake." Daru points out.

"Daru, is that you? Where am I?" I ask while trying to adjust my eyes.

"Okabe, how does she know my name? And who is she?" Daru whispers to Okabe.

"I don't know." Okabe responds.

"What do you mean you don't know…" I say still dazed.

I follow their voices and look in their direction and immediately come to my senses. That black suit coat, that look in his eyes; there's no doubt about it.

"W-Wait… you're Zer-Okabe." I think out loud.

"What did you just call me?" He responds.

"Then, what happened to…" I say as I sit up and take a look at my surroundings. Looks like I'm still in the lab. Luckily, Kurisu made it through just fine and is right beside me, even though that makes a grand total of zero sense if Zer-Okabe is here. Speaking of that, I decide to check the world line card.

**「****Future Divergence **– **%1.129948****」**

"So, I really am in beta…" I say to myself as I lie back down. I don't really have the energy to do anything right now. Even so, I grab Kurusu's wrist and check her pulse just in case… Yeah, she's fine.

Okabe, having seen enough, decides to ask the question both of them were thinking. "Who are you?"

"You guys really don't know me, huh?" I ask.

"No."

"Hey Daru, can you tell me the date and time real quick?"

"Uh, sure… It's February 26th, 2011; 18:13." Daru reads.

I let out a bit of a chuckle, "That doesn't make any sense…"

"Who are you!?" Okabe asks again, getting a little more frustrated.

"My name is Maxine. We came from a Delta world line in mid-2012, not like that really matters now."

"You made physical time travel possible in just a year?" Daru asks with excitement. Okabe is too horrified to say anything.

"We did it on accident, it's a miracle we survived, and there's definitely 100x more questions than answers, but to answer your question literally: yes," I answer.

"What's this about physical time travel?" Suzuha asks as she's walking in.

"This girl just came from the future," Daru reveals.

With this, in less than a second, I have a gun pointed in my face. "Woah… I knew Beta Suzuha was on edge, but experiencing it in person is so much scarier…" I think out loud.

"Suzuha…" Daru says sternly with a look of disapproval.

"What? She knows my name and I've never seen her before. She can only be a Rounder," She responds.

"She's only from 2012," Daru reasons.

"And she's from a different group of world lines, see?" Okabe adds while pointing to Kurisu.

"Wait, is that…" Upon seeing the girl they failed to save, she puts the gun away and crosses her arms.

"Yes," Okabe confirms.

"How is this possible? 2012 is only one year away," Suzuha asks.

"I don't know," I respond.

"What do you mean you don't know…" Suzuha says. Then she notices something out of the random stuff on the floor.

"Wait, is this a gravity reverser?" Suzuha asks in shock.

"A what now?" I ask.

"How did you guys get a gravity reverser?"

"Uh, well a lot of random stuff flew out of the portal, so…" Daru answers.

"This is what keeps the Kerr black hole from collapsing in my time machine. How did you get one in 2012?" She asks me.

"Uh, well, I mean… in theory, you could have lent us yours by then," I reason.

"Wouldn't that be a paradox?" Okabe asks.

"Only if we were to use this one again infinitely," I answer, "If we trade this one for Suzuha's own then it would only have been used by us one time."

"I see," Suzuha says satisfied with that answer.

Since I have nothing better to do right now, I try again to mentally piece together how I could have logically ended up where I did. I've been trying for a while but I'm missing too many pieces of the puzzle on my own like this. So, I ended up telling these three about everything that's been going on up until now. I figured I'd have to tell them anyway since I can't just casually throw out a 'well my knowledge of the future which changed the world line' without giving them the whole story.

It takes quite a while to get through the whole thing. Around two thirds of the way through I recovered enough energy to get up and sit next to the sleeping Kurisu on the couch. Why is she still asleep? Am I only conscious right now because I've become so used to these time travel shenanigans already?

"So, this leads me to my question," I say, "How did this become a beta world line? Or rather, what stopped you from saving _your_ Kurisu?"

Okabe is visibly shaken by the phrasing I used in the question. I added the word 'your' because I didn't want to get into how Kurisu could possibly be sleeping next to me like this, but I guess I should have been a little more careful with my phrasing.

"It was an Upa; the same as your world line," Suzuha answers for him.

"Ah, right. That makes sense." The amount of times before failure might be slightly different, but in the end the result was still the same: Suzuha is still stuck in our time, just with one extra casualty. It truly _is_ the way of the world line.

"It's getting kinda late, should we continue this tomorrow? We still need to find a place to stay," I remind them.

"You can stay here," Okabe suggests.

"Nah, isn't Suzuha already staying here?" I say. "It's fine, I think I already know a place that has a room available."

"You do?" Daru asks skeptically.

"Yeah,"

With this, Okabe follows me to where I'm talking about while carrying the sleeping Kurisu. Logically speaking, they could have sold this room to anyone else by now. I have a feeling that's not really the case though, and since neither I nor Kurisu were here to rent it for ourselves we should be able to get it no problem.

I had been proactively thinking about the consequences of being involved in such time travel shenanigans for a while now, so I carry a rather large portion of the prize money I got in cash inside a mini-safe in my pocket. That's because, in a theoretical situation like this, they wouldn't take payments a bank account that doesn't exist yet. I still used a debit card for all of my purchases to make it seem like I didn't carry cash so I wouldn't get robbed though.

Like I had speculated, they refused my card. So, I pretended to go to the ATM nearby and take out some of the money and just paid with the cash.

"So, this was Kurisu's apartment before, huh?" Okabe asks while taking a look around.

"Yeah," I answer. It's a little strange, but we never stopped living together. Clearly, I could have moved out into another apartment, but by then we were too used to having each other around.

Okabe lies her in bed and tucks her in. However, he's unable to take his eyes off her; as if she's going to disappear the second he looks away. It's a rather adorable sight.

I put my hand on his shoulder. He clearly needs comforted. "She's not going anywhere, Okabe."

"I know, but still-" He tries to respond.

"I'm going to be right here," I say gesturing to the couch, "and I'm sure that waking up in her own apartment isn't going to startle her in the first place."

"Right… I'll see you tomorrow, then," Okabe says.

"Okay," I say in confirmation. With that he turns to leave for the night.

"Ah, actually…" I call him back.

"Hm?"

"Can you unfold the couch for me?" I ask. The couch is one of those couch-bed combinations that can unfold into a bed for guests. This is no problem on most days, but I'm still lacking a lot of my physical strength right now.

"Ah, sure."

Okabe transforms the couch and then leaves for real this time. I lock the door and lie down on the couch. The room is missing a lot of our various knick-knacks that made it our own, but it's still the same space as before.

The real reason I cut our meeting short was because Kurisu would be a huge help in solving the various questions this presents, as well as asking new ones. Without her, I don't think we could get very far.

* * *

**AD 2011.02.27 06:23:12:10**

I am being lightly shaken awake, but my body is not ready.

"…5 more minutes…" I say in English drowsily.

"Maxine, it's important… We're-" Kurisu tries to say.

"We're in 2011, and I'm trying to sleep," I try to dismiss her again.

"Wait, you already knew?" Kurisu asks in a surprised tone.

This catches my interest enough to wake up a little more. "You were there when the whole black hole thing happened too, weren't you?"

"Y-Yeah, but I thought I dreamt that," Kurisu responds.

I take a glance at the time. Six in the morning? Why is Kurisu awake so early?

"No fair… you got to sleep the whole time yesterday," I conclude.

Since I'm already awake, there's basically no chance I'm getting to sleep again until later so I decide to give it up and turn on the TV. It's early morning, so it turns on to a local news broadcast.

"Up next, the mysterious Akihabara cell phone service outage," The reporter continues. "Cell phone service was completely missing yesterday evening until late last night in Akihabara and neighboring cities. Phone carriers issued a statement on this matter earlier this morning, saying that 'this was not a denial of service attack,' otherwise known as a D-O-S attack, but that 'an unprecedented and unreasonably high amount of electromagnetic energy had clouded the Akihabara skies that day', causing a level of interference too high to actually transmit any data through.

As further proof to these claims, many thousands of electronic devices such as TVs, computers, laptops, tables, and phones have been reported to be damaged; most of them beyond repair. The higher up off the ground the device was, the higher the chance of it getting damaged it seems.

We interviewed a shop owner to see what the community had to say about all this:"

"My TVs are my babies! I can't believe something like this would be allowed to happen!" Mr. Braun says with passion, "If anything happened to even one of my CRTs I would sue Werizon out of every yen they make!"

"Did that really happen? I can't remember something like that happening yesterday," Kurisu says from across the room.

"Looks like our arrival shook the world up quite a bit," I reason.

"Tell me about what happened while I was out," Kurisu says.

"Right, so we're in the Beta world line now," I explain.

"Yeah… so? We came from one before, right?"

"Technically yes, but this one is one of the ones where you died," I say flatly.

"What? I'm going to die!?"

"No. You already died. You're safe as you are now, I think."

"I died…?"

"Yeah, I know. I don't really get it either. It's like: if you died, how are you still alive now? Just try not to think about it too hard for now."

"…Okay…" Kurisu says unsurely.

"Next, Okabe isn't the Okabe you know anymore. He's Zer-Okabe," I explain.

"Okabe's not Okabe?"

"He took your loss hard, Kurisu. So hard he became a normie."

"Okabe? A Normie?" Kurisu says in shock.

"I know, right."

**Authors;Notes:**

**As I was writing the later chapters, I ended up drawing the layout of Kurisu's Apartment so that the location of things in the room stay consistent. Since it'd be kinda a shame to let this go to waste and the story itself can't really get this across very well, I uploaded it.**

**You can find the layout of Kurisu's Apartment (in this story) on Imgur at /a/uQ3e1Kd**


	5. Chapter 5: An Active Mystery

**AD 2011.02.27 12:04:59:37**

We continued talking about what happened and some other stuff until a more reasonable time rolled around before returning to the lab. Since we were brainstorming things we needed to know earlier, Kurisu takes some of those things and writes them on the board.

**「****1\. How is Active Steiner possible?****」**

**「****2\. Why did kicking the Phone Wave make it start working again?****」**

**「3. How did the Phone Wave create a black hole of that size?****」**

**「4. Why did we get thrown back so far?****」**

**「5. Why did the world line change to Alpha and Beta?****」**

**「6. How does Kurisu exist right now?****」**

Kurisu pauses as she writes that last one. It's an important question, sure, but it means questioning her own right to exist. I told her earlier it was okay if we didn't look into it, but she wrote it anyway. Okabe also cringes as he reads it.

"These questions are great and all, but how are we supposed to-" Daru cuts his sentence short and turns to look at me.

"What are you looking at me for?" I ask.

"You can see the future, right?" Daru states what should have been obvious, "Can't you answer these questions yourself?"

"Uhmm…" I try to come up with something but nothing really jumps out at me. Everyone waits patiently for my answer, but-

"I guess that would be too easy," I eventually say.

"Seriously?" Daru says in disappointment.

"There must be some other limitation at play here then," Kurisu concludes.

"Maybe it doesn't work in this time," Okabe suggests.

"What's the difference between these questions and the ones you asked before?" I ask.

"Well… I guess I could have answered the questions myself if you got them wrong," Kurisu remembers, "but how could that change your memories?"

"That can't be it, right?" Okabe refutes, "Unless we really _aren't_ going to ever get the answer to these questions, then with that logic she should be able to answer no problem."

"Maybe the answer has to be able to show itself in the current world line, then," I reason, "But if that's the case, though, then why?"

The lab goes silent for a moment. I guess Active Steiner will remain shrouded in mystery for now.

"What about the other questions?" I ask.

"Ah, well, I can't really figure out why kicking the phone wave worked since we're here now…" Kurisu says.

I sigh in response. "That's true of most of these, though."

"What about the time?" Okabe asks, "That should at least just be all math."

"Right," Kurisu agrees, "How many seconds did you have me enter again?" Kurisu asks me.

"I think it was 20 seconds," I respond.

"Only 20?" Okabe asks in surprise.

"Daru, how many days is it until August 19th, 2012?" Kurisu asks.

Instead of counting the days, Daru pulls up some random online date calculator and puts in the dates. "539 days. 540 if you start from yesterday," Daru answers.

"…So we traveled 27 times the amount of seconds on the microwave in days," Kurisu does the math.

"Could moving the Phone Wave just a few feet really have done that much?" Okabe asks.

"It could have put it in more directly in the path of the electron gun, but still, 27 times is a bit much; and that's not even taking into account the fact that we're using days here instead of hours," Kurisu reminds us.

"So, the only option left, then, would be that the lifter had changed," Okabe reasons.

"But the lifter is Mr. Braun's CRT downstairs. That much hadn't changed," I remember.

"There's no way he's replacing that thing either. Didn't you see the news this morning?" Daru asks.

"You never know," Okabe says.

"That's the problem," Kurisu says.

Even for a mostly math-based question, we still just don't know enough to answer. How frustrating.

"Tuturuu~! It's Mayushii!" Mayuri announces her presence. "Oh, Okarin, who are they?"

"This is Maxine and that's Kurisu," he answers honestly. It gives me the chills. I'm just too used to him calling me Maxina; it feels wrong that he said it _correctly_.

"They…" he continues to explain but stops himself. He probably doesn't want to tell Mayuri that we came from the future. Does that mean she doesn't know about Suzuha too, then?

"I'm Lab Mem number zero zero ten, and Kurisu is Lab Mem number zero zero four," I say instead.

"Zero zero ten? Doesn't that make it four digits?" Okabe tries to refute while cringing at himself.

"Not if you use the roman numeral for ten," I explain with a smug smile.

"So that's how it is," Daru says with a nostalgic expression.

"Wait, there are 10 Lab Mems?" Mayuri asks in confusion.

"Ah… yeah. There's me, you, Daru, Kurisu, _reserved_, Ruka, Feris, Suzuha, …_reserved_, and Maxine I guess," Okabe recites. Even to his knowledge there should only be 8, so he got confused toward the end.

"When did they become Lab Mems…?" Daru asks confused. "And why are some numbers reserved?"

* * *

**AD 2011.02.27 16:28:25:24**

It ended up being too hard to get ourselves out of that line of conversation without Kyouma here, so me, Kurisu, and Okabe made up some random excuse to leave. It was _real_ smooth.

We ended up having some fun around Akiba for a while, but had to stop by the store to make the excuse seem at least a little valid. As we make our way back through the busy main streets with our freshly purchased bananas, something ridiculous catches my eye. I wasn't really paying attention, so I turn around to see what I missed. Nope, I wasn't crazy, they were.

Two people with ridiculously over the top, but pretty cool looking swords.

They're really sharp looking too. Are they allowed to have those around here? I mean, Japan is Japan, but there's a limit to how dangerous you can seem. As I'm thinking this, I get a strange sense of Déjà vu. Is this the future knowledge? And Is that who I think it is?

"Rimi?" I call out.

The pink haired girl and her friends stop to look around as soon as I call her name. Hold on, Rimi wasn't even a Steins;Gate character. What was she from again?

"…Did you just call my name?" she asks me. Ah, crap. I just did that thing again where I accidentally use future knowledge and it gets super awkward.

"Yeah," I try acting like it was normal.

"How do you know my name?" she asks me assuming a defensive stance.

Dammit, why'd I have to do this to someone who's wielding a dangerous sword. Seeing this, Okabe looks absolutely terrified. His body is so tense he's frozen still. He might be having some of those PTSD flashbacks right now.

"Ahaha, well… I can tell you about that later if you want," I respond.

"She does on accident all the time," Kurisu defends me.

"Anyway, what brings you to Akiha?" I ask.

"How do you know we don't live here?" Sena responds.

Ah, geez. I just keep digging deeper it seems. How do I get myself out of this one…

Kurisu sighs to herself and decides to but in for me. "I know it seems weird, but you put her in a tough position right now. If you follow us to the lab, we'll explain everything to you, okay?"

"SERN?" Rimi asks.

"No," Kurisu responds.

"Committee of 300?" Takumi asks.

"Double no," I respond, "The Future Gadget Lab."

"The what?"

We begin to lead them in the direction of the lab but I notice Okabe isn't following. He's still frozen there.

"Cmon, Okabe. Snap out of it," I say as I shake him back to reality. I point to Kurisu. She looks a little torn seeing him like this. "She's still just fine, see?"

"…A-Ah, yeah, that's right," he says as his body loses a considerable amount of tension. He stumbles a little before continuing to walk with us.

Using Okabe as an excuse to be behind the rest of the group, I take a second look at who exactly is front of me. Girls with ridiculous but cool looking swords in the Steins;Gate universe… Oh, that's it. They were from Chaos;Head. That makes sense. Unlike me, they could have just taken a half hour train ride to get here.

As we continue walking, I notice Sena hasn't taken her eyes off of Kurisu almost the whole time.

"Hey, Sena-"

"How do you know my name?" Sena asks.

I click my tongue at this. Just keep digging, Maxine. Just keep digging.

"Why have you been looking at Kurisu like that?" I ask.

"…No reason," Sena says as she looks away for the first time.

"There has to be _some_ reason," I say in response.

"Well… you called her Kurisu just now, didn't you?" Sena asks.

"Yeah," I answer.

"As in, Makise Kurisu?"

"Yeah," As soon as the answer leaves my mouth, I realize my mistake. Of course, to me nothing is wrong here, but to everyone else-

"She died, though, didn't she?" Sena says bluntly. Okabe visibly flinches having not fully recovered from his last panic attack.

"Y-Yeah…" I say in defeat.

Rimi and Takuru look at each other in confusion. I guess we really do seem like a bunch of crazy people. I sigh to myself and give up trying to justify what I'm saying.

At least we're at the lab now. As I knock on the door I'm struck with a realization. Wasn't the whole point of our shopping trip to get away from having these conversations at the lab? It's too late to turn back now.

As I'm thinking this, Daru opens the door. "Ah, you're back Maxe-shi. Did you get the-" he begins to ask but cuts himself off. "Neidhardt, Is that you? I wasn't ready for an offline meet, man. You should have told me you were in town!"

"Wait, you guys know DaSH? Why didn't you just say so," Takumi says. I've been saved!

"So, DaSH, these are your friends?" Rimi asks as we walk into the room. Luckily, it seems Mayuri had to leave for something, so the secret can remain safe for now.

"Yeah, um… wait, you guys don't know each other?" Daru asks in confusion.

"Well, she certainly knew us, but we don't know _her_," Takumi says while pointing at me.

"Oooh," Daru says as if that made perfect sense. This confuses them further.

"Well, this is Okabe. I think I told you about him before," Daru points out.

"Wait, _that's_ Okabe? He's way different than you described him." Takumi says in surprise.

"I know. One day he just changed, man," Daru says. "This is Kurisu. You remember that 17-year-old genius from last year I was telling you about? That's her."

"How is that possible?" Sena asks.

"I don't know, man. It doesn't really make any sense to me either," Daru says while shrugging. "And this is Maxine. She and Kurisu came from the future…"

"Are you kidding me?" Takumi asks in disbelief.

"Yup, portal and everything," he says flatly, "Maxe-shi can also see into the future."

At these ridiculous claims, they all frown; which is the correct response in this case.

"…Didn't you say your daughter came from the future too?" Sena asks.

"She came through a time machine from much farther in the future," Daru says.

"I know it all sounds ridiculous but what he's saying is all true," Suzuha says walking out of the development room.

"Who are you, then?" Rimi asks.

"I'm Suzuha; his daughter. Make sure you keep that a secret between us though," Suzuha says with a threatening gaze.

"O-Oh," Rimi says in response. I think Rimi and I both now agree that we don't want to ever have to take on Suzuha.

"Let's prove it then," Takumi says, "Maxine, what color is Rimi's underwear?"

"Taku!" Rimi scolds him.

"Oh, great. Another pervert," Kurisu says as she crosses her arms.

"Do you even _know_ the answer to that question?" I ask in response.

"_Yes_," he responds.

"No," Me and Rimi both say at the same time.

"You at least have to be able to tell me the answer afterward, or there's no way for me to know," I explain.

"…Can I give a fake answer?" Rimi asks.

"I guess so," I respond. For what it's worth, it was a simple and memorable question, so it's undeniably perfect for the task.

"Okay then, I'll answer," she responds.

"Was the color you're thinking of: Green?" I ask. I almost blurted this answer out the moment Takumi asked earlier but Rimi's scolding made me realize how perverted it was. Since I answered just now, I'm struck with the phantom nausea as usual. This causes me to stumble a little.

"No way…" Rimi says in shock.

"So, it was green," Sena realizes based on Rimi's reaction.

"Lucky guess," Takumi says unconvinced.

"You're one to talk," I respond, "Haven't you seen enough ridiculous things already?"

"…You're not wrong," Takumi admits.

"Anyway, what brings you here, Takumi? Daru said you were always too busy to come over before," Okabe asks.

"We were investigating the cause behind the electromagnetic cloud. If you remember, the last time something like that happened was in 2009; around the same time as the New Generation Madness and the earthquakes," Takumi says.

"Ah, sorry. I'm pretty sure that was me," I admit.

"You did that?" Sena asks.

"Well, you see, the last time I used Phone Wave it erupted a massive amount of sparks; enough to make it appear as a wide laser beam, but then the black hole I came here through ate them all. You didn't see any sparks at all, did you Okabe?"

"No. A few came out of my phone, but nothing like that," he agrees.

"Aww, so you mean we came out here for no reason?" Rimi asks while pouting.

"Yeah, it seems so," Suzuha confirms.

"By the way… uh, what are those?" Okabe asks while pointing to the swords.

"You can see this too?" Rimi asks while picking up the sword.

"See what," Suzuha asks with a confused look. Kurisu also looks confused.

"The Di-Sword. If you can see it, then you must be a Gigalomaniac," Sena explains.

"What does that mean?" Okabe asks.

"It means that you have the potential to turn your delusions into reality," I remember.


	6. Chapter 6: The Depths of Delusion

**AD 2011.02.27 16:43:39:14**

"It means that you have the potential to turn your delusions into reality," I remember. Sena looks at me as if I've just revealed something I shouldn't have.

"What?" Okabe asks in disbelief.

"That's ridiculous. What kind of chuuni fantasy is that?" Kurisu refutes.

Sena sighs to herself, and then starts her explanation. "It's like this. Let's say that every operation in the world can be described by either a one or a zero. This makes up the world as you know it. However, Gigalomaniacs have access to creating negative ones. Negative ones create Errors that only Gigalomaniacs can see."

"B-But if only Gigalomaniacs can see the Errors, then how could they possibly be real?" Kurisu asks nervously.

"Real-Booting," Sena continues, "Using my Di-Sword, I can take the negative ones and exchange them for particles and antiparticles via the Dirac Sea. Then I would only have to push these particles into your mind's blind spot for you to see the delusion as reality."

Right after Sena says the last sentence Kurisu and Suzuha's skeptical expressions turn to one of shock. Her sword had been real-booted.

Daru, on the other hand, just looks a little spooked. "I know you showed it to me before, but I still don't think I'll ever get used to seeing it happen," Daru says.

"T-That means…" Kurisu says with a scared expression, "…I'm…"

As Kurisu is stuttering I notice where her eyes are locked on and realize my mistake. It's question six on the board. We must have forgotten to erase that when Mayuri came in earlier.

**「6. How does Kurisu exist right now?****」**

"Kurisu…" I say as I take a step closer to her. But it's too much for her to handle, so she makes a mad dash out of the lab instead.

"Kurisu!" Okabe says as he begins to chase after her as well, but Takumi stops him by the shoulder and shakes his head. "But, what if she…?" Okabe tries to reason.

"She'll be okay," Takuru says, "Rimi went after her."

* * *

I ran, I ran, and I ran. What am I running from?

Delusions.

That's right. There's no way someone's delusions can become reality. I must have been hanging around Kyouma too much. That sword didn't really appear. That was my delusion. That's right, because-

I'm not dead;

I didn't die.

I'm _alive_.

As the minutes pass me by, my body starts giving out. Out of breath and lacking the stamina to go on, I slump down against the wall. It's only then that I see where I've ended up. "This is…"

The 8th floor of Radi-kan;

The place where Okabe said I had died.

Why? Why did I end up here? No, I didn't die! I'm alive! I scramble to my feet and run up the last set of stairs.

As I run out onto the roof, I trip on something and fall flat on my face. Why? What did I trip on?

An Upa;

The thing that started this whole mess.

I grab it in anger and throw it off the side of the building. Why did this have to happen to me? I sit up while grabbing my knees. "I'm alive… I'm alive…"

"You _are_ alive," I hear someone say from the stairs. "You've always _been_ alive."

"B-But I'm-" I try to say in response.

"A delusionary existence? Yeah. I am, too," Rimi says.

"You are?"

Rimi is also a delusion… and Rimi is _alive_.

"Yeah. It's not as big of a deal as you think," Rimi confirms.

"…You're right. I've been telling myself that the whole time," I explain, "It's just that, well… everyone keeps talking about how I died. And the nightmares back then, they were so real. I just…"

"I… don't know what that's like… but thinking like that is wrong, isn't it?" Rimi says as she hugs me, "You're not the same as the Kurisu who died. You're you; the Kurisu who lived."

"The Kurisu who lived…"

I wasn't running away from my delusions;

I was running away from the truth.

Allowing myself to be swallowed the delusions themselves.

* * *

"-And Rimi knows more than anyone about dealing with someone in that state," Takumi says as he scratches the back of his head. He's clearly talking about himself. With all these reassurances, Okabe finally backs down.

"So Kurisu is a delusionary existence," I say to myself. Was it better to find out? I had a feeling it was bothering her, but was it this bad the whole time? How did I not notice? I was even there when her nightmares resurfaced a couple months ago.

I suppose there's no use thinking these sorts of things now. I walk over to the whiteboard and make sure to erase number six good just in case.

"But then, which one of us could have dreamt her up?" Daru asks.

"It was just me and Daru when they showed up," Okabe remembers.

"And only Okabe and Maxine reacted to the swords initially," Sena reminds us.

This is just like a puzzle. All I have to do now is fit all the pieces together. "…Since she has the memories from my original world line, it could have only been me," I conclude, "But I was in no condition to be real-booting things when I got here."

"Then it must have been Okabe, who real-booted Kurisu using Daru's blind spot," Takumi solves.

"Ah, that's right. Okabe was the one who pointed her out to me," Daru remembers.

"…Then, one more question remains," Okabe says, "Why were you having delusions of Kurisu?"

"Ah, well, actually… the real Kurisu did start the Phone Wave initially in an Alpha world line, so I could have sworn she was there with me. But maybe the world line changed right before I kicked the Phone Wave, which would cause my belief that Kurisu got sucked in with me to be nothing more than a delusion," I explain.

"And since Okabe saw your delusion before you caught yourself, he accidently made it reality," Takumi says.

Actually… does that mean that the Rounders were never there in this world line? Was I in too much pain to realize there wasn't any danger anymore? There's no way they could have escaped that black hole's grasp…

"If that's true, then how come Okabe's Reading Steiner didn't activate?" Suzuha asks.

Finally, a question I can answer. I learned this a couple months ago while we were fighting the edge of the attractor fields. "It isn't that Reading Steiner didn't activate, it's just that the Okabe I know exists in 2012. This is because Reading Steiner uses time relative to how long you have been alive," I explain.

"What does that mean?" Okabe asks.

"Let's use my situation right now as an example," I say, "Because I physically went back in time, I am actually 540 days older than I should be right now."

"Right, so…?" Okabe urges me to continue.

"Since I also have Reading Steiner, if I were to somehow send a D-Mail that stopped me from kicking the Phone Wave, I would return to August 20th, 2012 alongside that Okabe where I should be, while you would continue on in 2011."

"I see," Suzuha says as if that made complete sense.

"Um… guys? What the hell are you talking about. Phone Wave? World Lines? Reading Steiner? What?" Takuru says completely lost.

Oh, that's right. They wouldn't have known anything about that. I guess it's our turn to explain to them the ridiculous and unbelievable truths of this world.

* * *

**AD 2011.02.27 17:21:52:29**

"Muu… Okabe's still not answering," 「Kurisu」 says.

"Maybe his phone's broke," I respond.

"He hasn't answered in two months, senpai! Two!"

I sigh to myself. Okabe has been avoiding Amadeus for some reason ever since the Christmas party, and it's really been upsetting her. "Well, if it helps any, it might actually be broken now. Have you seen the latest big news story over there?"

"Ah, no… what was it?"

"A huge electromagnetic wave came out of nowhere and fried a ton of electronics," I explain as I pull up an article.

The article is in a typical news website format. You have your big exaggerated title, a cover photo taking up most of the page until you scroll, and then the paragraphs themselves. Something, or rather, someone catches my eye in the background, though. As I see it, my eyes grow wide in shock.

"K-Kurisu…?"

"Yeah?" 「Kurisu」 responds.

"N-No, not you. Ah, well, I mean…" I stop rambling and try to collect my thoughts before trying again. "Is this you?"

I show her the article's cover photo. Kurisu seems to be running away from something off camera with a distraught look on her face.

"Y-Yeah, it looks like me, for sure, but… the real me died, didn't I?" 「Kurisu」 eventually says.

"I know… but what if…"

After thinking about it for a while, I can't get it out of my head. I give up and begin a Skaip call with Daru. I have to know. He'd get Okabe to look for me, right? It rings for a bit longer than usual. Maybe he isn't there right now.

As I'm about to give up, he answers. "Ah, Maho-tan. What's up?"

I take a look around the room. There's a lot of people there right now! I could handle being called an idiot by Daru, but a lot of people are there. Even people I've never seen before.

"O-Oh, am I interrupting something?" I say timidly.

"No, No, it's fine," one of the girls say, "What did you need, Maho?"

"Rosaline-kyouju!? Why are you in Akihabara?" I ask in shock. Even she's there?

"And more importantly, why are you at Okabe's place?" 「Kurisu」 says in a jealous tone.

Daru seems like he doesn't know how to respond to this, so Rosaline eventually answers instead.

"Oh, y'know, I was just kinda around… and I happened to run into Okabe, and one thing led to another and he invited me to his party," she says nervously.

That excuse is great and all, but you didn't answer the question. As I'm about to confront her about this, 「Kurisu」 reminds me why I placed this call in the first place.

"Maho… get to the point." She must have been curious about the article too.

"Right, okay," I say taking a deep breath, "Have you seen-"

"Maho!" The Professor barges in, "The Airports say that everything's good to go!" he says happily.

"Airports?" I ask. What is he talking about Airports for?

"That's right. Pack your bags, we're going back to Akihabara." Leskinen announces.

"Ah, so that's why she was there…" I say to myself.

As I say this, though, a look of confusion dawns the Professor's face. "Who's there?"

"Rosaline is there already, isn't she?" I ask.

As I ask this, I notice who's standing beside Leskinen. It's none other than Professor Rosaline herself. "What do you mean? I'm right here."

"B-But…" I say as I look back down at the screen. I search the whole frame for her, but she's gone. How did she…?

* * *

Damn, that was close! If I hadn't been so quick to notice myself walking into frame there, I would have totally tipped them off. Maho's one thing, but Leskinen is probably dangerous.

Also, did she just call me '_-kyouju_?' Did I get upgraded from being a part-timer after Kurisu died?

**TIP: -kyouju is the honorific for Professor in Japanese.**

Meanwhile, Daru and the others are in complete shock. They can't believe what's in front of them: Irrefutable proof that I came from the future; and a vastly different one at that.

I continue making no-signs at them and signaling to keep quiet. Luckily, before Maho looks back this way everyone regains their composure.

"Ah, well… I guess I'll see you guys when I get there," Maho says.

"O-Okay. See you later, Maho-tan," Daru says as he signs off.

"…This is bad," I say.

"So, your real name is Rosaline?" Sena asks.

"No. In the word line I came from originally Maxine was my name, but when I got here, I found out my name was Rosaline," I clarify.

What should we do? If Rosaline comes along with them, it's totally game over for me. And wait a second, Amadeus Kurisu saw me in the call too, didn't she? In that case-

"Daru, I think I'm going to need assistance from your other job…" I say ominously.

"Seriously? You know about that, too?" Daru says with a defeated expression.

"We need to steal Amadeus," I say as I turn to face him.

"Steal Amadeus? Really?" he asks in surprise.

"Wait! Maxine, what are you saying?" Okabe asks in fear, "We can't steal Amadeus, if we do that-"

"It's our only option," I say flatly, "She saw me. If, or rather, when she reports that to Leskinen we'll be sitting ducks."

"There's no way the Professor would-" he tries to reason again.

"No, Okabe. He would; and he did," I say turning to face him.

"Amadeus? What's that?" Sena asks.

"It's an AI replica of Kurisu," I answer.

"So… wait, there's the Kurisu who died, the Kurisu who is a delusion, and an AI Kurisu?" Takuru asks.

"…Yeah," I respond.

"Are you sure about this?" Daru asks one last time. "We're gonna need server-grade hardware to run it."

"Of course, unless you're not the world class hacker I think you are," I tease.

"Please… Nobody'll even know I was there," Daru says with confidence.

"…Hey, is there anywhere we can stay around here?" Takumi eventually asks.

"I think I heard the owner say the apartment above mine is open, why?" I ask.

"We can't just leave you hanging," Takumi says, "You guys seem like you're in a dangerous position right now. The Committee might even be involved."

"…Okay, then let me tell you guys about Steins;Gate 0."


End file.
